Although they've stopped providing their accommodation and furniture for hire services, but their witty and hilarious products has managed to connect with the younger generation of India and after few years of their inception, 'Happily Unmarried' was listed as one of the coolest companies in the country. We managed to get in touch with Rajat, who is also a part-time stand up comedian and he agreed to spare some time for a small interview with us. Catch it below, and don't miss out on their products while you are at it. :)
Rajat, please introduce yourself to E-junkies.
Hello E junkies, my name is happily unmarried and i run a company called Rajat (or it may be the other way round) . I like eating, running, watching and writing stand up comedy, when I am not doing any of these things I am busy fire fighting a brand new crisis every day at Happily Unmarried.
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| Razor Blade: Tissue Box |
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| Rubber Bando |
Tell us the story behind 'Happily Unmarried' from conceiving the idea of starting it and successfully executing it. How did your company grow?
The idea came to me and Rahul who is the other co-founder while we were apartment hunting many years ago in Hyderabad. We had both just taken up jobs there and being bachelors no one was ready to let us their houses. We would only have one Sunday to do all boring house related things the first half of which was usually spent nursing hangovers. So we thought we should have a company to do everything for young single professionals. That was the crux of the idea when we started. Slowly we started developing products which we could give to friends because we hated everything that was available in the market those days. One thing led to another and soon we had a company going (that is the short version the long version involves years of slogging, pain and loss of hair on the head)
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| 'What The Flock Am I Doing Here' Mug |
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| Bar Maid Openers |
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| Milk Bottle Stopper |
Your company has been listed as the coolest Indian company by Business Today and has appeared in Limca Book of World Records. That's commendable! How do you feel about it?
When Business Today mentioned us as one of the coolest companies in India we were really small and had barely started so it was a huge shot in the arm,we are still not sure why Limca book of world record featured us but we are not complaining.
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| Beer Bands |
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| Rude Zodiac Mugs |
How would you say that your company is different from other lifestyle products' companies?
Well for one we are not as serious as any of them and since HU was started by non designers we still don't strictly follow the form follows function thing while designing products, we just try to create products which excite us. We are in the business of selling fun so today it is products, tomorrow it could be movies or road trips in Africa. We are not a product company, we are a fun company.
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| Film Reel Wine Rack |
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| Hand Pump Bottle Stopper |
You guys have an amazing sense of humor that is clearly reflected in your products. Are there any special designers behind it?
Now you are just being kind! the entire approach is informal so the communication, the packaging, the treatment is all extremely casual. The humor is quirky yet not offensive and something most Indians can identify with. And we do put a lot of effort.
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| Space Ship |
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| Rock Star |
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| Men Are Dicey |
I believe that Happily Unmarried faced a lot of challenges initially and it took time to kick off. What kept you motivated and your spirits up in that difficult time?
I think it was plain old fashioned stupidity. We were so naive and so much in love with the idea that we did not ever think we would not make it( not that we have made it even now, we have a long road ahead).Sometimes when we look back at how we started we keep asking ourselves " what the hell were we thinking".
When you think too much and depend too much on excel sheets and 5 year business plans you tend to play safe. The best thing is to jump headlong and not think too much about failure.
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| Soup Mug |
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| Soup Mug |
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| Screw |
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| Screw |
I read a very interesting line by you in an article where you said 'You can't choose to be an Entrepreneur; it just happens'. Please elaborate.
To most entrepreneurs once a business idea comes it just keeps sitting in the middle of your head and keeps taunting you to begin. That little voice drives you crazy unless you give your idea shape. So that time you don't think of anything else like how are you going to raise the money? what if it fails? what will people say? All you want to do is somehow start. I know Doctors who gave up practice to become cartoonists, CAs who gave up investment banking jobs to set up stores, MBAs who quit huge salary jobs to sell coffee. How do you explain this behavior? It just happens.
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| A-Z Alcohol Cushion |
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| NRI Mug |
I know you can't afford to be biased but please share some of your favorite products by Happily Unmarried.
Sandaas ashtray, Jimmi Jimmi poster,1 2 cha cha, Procrastinator's diary actually i like all of them
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| Sandaas (Ash Tray) |
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| Jimmi Poster |
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| Procrastination Diary |
I really like the style of writing on your website with a tinge of humor. So are there any plans of starting a company blog...I'm sure your fans would love it.
Thank you I do all the writing so really appreciate you noticing it. We just did a laptop bag which has funny lines all over, one of the line says" no body cares about your blog" Ha ha Blogs are now dated we are quiet active on Facebook. So we may do more stuff in the social networking sphere.
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| Small Talk Coaster |
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| 'Serves You Right' Snack Bowl |
Are you planning on expanding your business at international level?
shh shh not a word about this right now.
You guys conduct an event 'Music on Hills' twice a year. Tell us more about it.
Music in the hills is one of things we are very proud of, it is a live music festival done in beautiful resorts away in the hills. The only agenda is to chill and listen to good live music. Everyone from Parikrama, to Raghu Dixit to Soul mate have performed at MiH. The next one is in August, its our 7th so we are ditching the hills for a desert adventure. This one is going to be on the dunes and in Khimsar fort near Jodhpur (India). This one is going to be special.
What are the other things that interests you? Tell us about your favorite destinations, websites, blogs, books, etc. And also, are you married? ;) (I am sure you get that a lot)
I got married 2 years ago (seems longer ha ha) yes I get that a lot. My wife has known happily unmarried forever and was even running our Goa store for a bit so it just doesn't seem any different. I really enjoy good intelligent comedy in any from be it stand up, theater, books, movies. Like to travel without a plan or reading much about the place,don't travel for fun as much as would like to. Want to take a road trip all over the north east and also read about a Pantone hotel in Brussels, each floor is a different pantone color really want to go there sometime soon.
Few words for our readers...
Life is unsure always eat the dessert first.
It has been a pleasure to have you on our blog Rajat, thanks for taking the time out for a wonderful interview. We wish you all the success and happiness in the future.
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